Collapsible luggage carrier



y 1952 J. R. FORMAN COLLAPSIBLE LUGGAGE CARRIER Filed March s, 1950 INVENTOR. JUL/E R. F ORMA/V A TTORNEY Patented July 8, 1952 $553;

f lie present invention relates tofa collapsible fulfor that purpose isshownin Fig. 4where the luggage' carrieror dolly, and aims primarily-to V end' of the-leg'lfi is providedzwith an interior provide' 'a means whichg'may be attached toga transverse tube l8' whichhouses two little ball piece er-luggage and'wl ich', regardless whether piecesfllurged outwardly by'a spring 20; ",The or not attached to-such'piece may beerected so 5 end of the associated longitudinal H has in its as to be serviceable asa wheeled carrierfor niay wall twofopposite ho1es2l in which theball's can be collap'sed intoja'structure requiring little space. engage. Theballs canbe sumciently compressed Another' object of the invention is to provide' a fromthe outside to permit the leg to be "pushed carrier or dolly of the mentioned'type which may inwards with respect to the longitudinal; Furbe collapsed into a substantially plane 'structu're thermore; in-o'rderto render the'dolly better useof a thickness not, or not materially, exceeding ful'for pieces of luggage of different lengths, the that of its thickest member and of a length not, total length of the erected dolly may be adjustor not materially, exceeding that of the carr'ying able. 1 For this purpose; additional sets of holes area of the dolly. 2! may be provided in the longitudinals' H and The invention essentially consists'of ajpla'ne l5 l2 ,'tobe selectively engaged by the balls I}! deframe, having a substantially rectangular ca'rrypending upon the'distance it'is' desired to'have ing area with supporting wheels adapted -to"be the handle'project-ineach case. 1 f 1 turned'substantially into the-{frame plane when 'Intheoth'er ends ofth longitudinals I l' and not-in use, a; projectable handle-,' and means for l2 two other tubes or rods 22 and 23, respectively, detachably'securing said frame to a a piece of are telescopically shijtable; As' best seen in Fig. luggage. I 1' 3each'of those rods formsafork at its outer The m m gl ovaims to provide'in a 001- o endjin whicha wheel 25 "is journa1ed. 'Dete'nt lapsible carrier or-dolly oi. the mentioned type,- means are provided to hold the rodsin retracted a rear structure or back 'frame which may be position with the associated'wheels in'theplane selectively turned-into an erected position or into 25 of the frame ID, or alternately in the extended a position substantially flush with the mainposition withthe wheels at right angles to" the frame; V plane of the frame. Such detent means may be Further objects and detailsof thein'vention' of the type'ofFigA or of ariy'other suitable and will be apparent-fro'm the descriptiongiven-here conventional type. Ingthe'example of Figs. '3'

inafter'andthe' accompanying drawing illustrat and 3a; the detent for the'indicated purposecomingtwo embodiments thereof byway of example. sis'tsof *a' pin 28 inserted through" a transverse I i-the. drawing, bore 29 of the' longitudinal I'l andengaging a *Fig; -1 is a perspective {view of a-luggage carrierregistering bore 30 of ther'od 22 when the latter oi dolly j-accordingto-' myinvention; in its open isretracted. In order to project rod 22; the pin state and attached to a piece oflugga'ge; I g 28 may be withdrawn; then the'rod may be pulled Fig. 2 is 'a-bottom plan viewthereoi 'in its-c01 out and turned 90 degrees. In order toshold the lapedstate P rod in'its'extendedposition,the pin Will'be infFigL B-is 'a side elevationota part thereof at a serted" again when another hole 30 is brought l'arger's'cale; v 3 I to-iegister'with'bore 29; In this connection it Fig. 3a is asectionalong'line 309 -311, in Fig. 3; 40 will'be noted that the direction of'the hole '30 is Fig.4 is a side-elevationo'fanother part; and at 'rightangles to the hole 30. 'iFurthermore Figx5 is acros'S s'ection along 1i-ne5-5-of Fig. 2-." other holes 3|)" may 'be providedbetween holes Referring now to the drawing,"*the luggage 30 and 30} and parallel'to .30f order to allow carriershown in Figs; "1 to 5 comprises a frame for-anadjustrnentorthe distance thewheel 25 .in general denoted by [0. As best seen in Fig. 2, projects from y-the e'nd of "the: longitudinal l I. the frame consists'of two longitudinal members Thefd'etent arrangement in" connecti-on-with the l,l,1;and; l 2,. respectively, which are, connected, other longitudinal lzlmay be similar to thatjust e. g., through welding, by a tranSl/iersemember described. 'Thus,"the mentioned adjustability as [3 near theiriront ends andby another transwell asj'the' adjustability of the handle renders verse member l4 intermediate their ends. Pref the-length ofithe}dollyadaptable to differently erably;-=the mentioned four members or at lefast si'zed'piece's"ofluggageg Adiacentthefork' 24a thelongitudinals-are of tubular cross-section'but collar-2 6 is provided on; eachof the rods; and 2.

depending onthe structure ofthe additional sleeve 2151s mounted on each of the rods between members ctlrer cross-sections may be selected with sififilarfadvantager A 'piece of-flround cross-section is bent into; u q h i tube 32' is rotatably mounted." Two shape to for m a handle [5 with legs l6 and-ll para lel', preferably*alsof tubu1ar,' member 33 and which are telescopically shiftablein the longi 34a s'efcured to thetube 32n'ear itsends "and rovided, neantheirfends, withfidetent" 60 means .to ld'the'handlereleasably mthegexte" dedposition.rr detent means of a kinduseits onarj zs and'the associated'longitudinal." The; sleeves-Z'I are c nnected bya transverse'rodsl" II and [2, respectively. The legs 16. are cqnnected toeach other bya transversememf 35.1" The 'membe'rfs'f33, 34" and';35 constitute; ted Ifiso j i g ii:

' detachably toa' piece of a luggage.

erected position. The latch, more clearly shown in Fig. comprises a plunger 41 shiftable in an.

cylindrical projection 42 of the tube 32." The plunger has a pin-like extension .43: which may be brought into engagement. with a bore. 44. of

rod 3| when the frame is collapsed or with a bore 45 when the frame is erected. A spring: 46 bearing against the plunger-and a closure 41 of the cylindrical extension tendsito urge theplunger in an engagingposition. The plunger isprovided with ahandle '48, so'that. it may be withdrawn fromengaging. position against. the. restraint. of spring 16. I l f a In many instances; it will 'be desirable to, support the. dolly with its. handle,- rai'sedf from. the ground; "For this purpose. a tube? 49. may be mounted, on the transverse member l4, and. a. foot 50' may be welded to that tube, so that thefoot may be turned into the plane'of the frame 10, or'into a position in whichit projects down-- wardly. When the foot is in the latterposition, the, dolly can rest on the. wheels and the foot simultaneously. A latch 51 of a structure similar to that of 'latchlll maybe provided in order to hold the foot in the selected position.

Means are provided to attach the frame l0 Such means may be of any 'suitable type In the illustrated embodiment the, longitudinals. II and H! are provided for. this. purpose with loops or. ears. 52,53, 54. andl55f,' so-that;e. g., straps 56 and. 51 canbe' fastened. thereto. and tightened by buckles 58 and 59 around a suitcase I00 or similar piece. of luggage. In many instances it will be desirable to extend therear "frame upwards beyond the dimensionof the piece which comes. to. bear. against it, so that. the dollycan carry more. than iustthat] piece," For this; purpose rods. 36-and 31 may be' arrangedtelescopically. shiftable. in. the members 33.;and 34,lr.espectively.

. When. collaps,ed, 'i. e. in the relativeposition of. the parts as. shown in Fig; 2,, all parts are dated 's'ubstantiallyfln' the .plane of the} longitudinals, H and..."l'2.}. In'v consequence, the. col.- lapsed: dolly requires a minimum-.ofspaceregardless, whether it is. detached. for storing or whether itis attached to'a'p'iece of luggage such as'sui'tcase I00; So att'ach'ed, it may. be easily lifted. withjthe. suitca'sefland thesuitc'asewith the attached carrier can be readily put on: alugga e rack or wherever desired."

In order to use the-carrier as .aldolly, without. detaching it 'fromthe. suitcase, handle l5 may, be pulled out until the detents ofl'th'e-legs engage the holes 2lor 21 of the long itudinal'sl After removal of the. pins. 28' fromhol'ding positiom. the rods 22 maybe turned 90' degrees and. the tube 32 may bfgripped andpulledto theleitthe suitcase. 'Inlorder to be readily able; .to: pull out the parts. as deSc'ribed withoutloosening; the. straps, it isadvi'sahlmot .to exceed inany one or: the parts. the thick'ness ofi thelongitudinals H...

and I2.'on which.the sliitcasef-bears'. "When the.-

rods '22 "and. 123 are. secured their. extended;

position. the latch ma be; pulledlback an:

' the rear frame "may be turned about roe 31'" 4 through approximately 270 degrees until the latch engages again and holds. the: rear frame or back in the erected position. Similarly, latch 5| may be pulled back and the foot 50 may be ..turned down. When finaHy, rods 36' and 31 are pulled-out,-.they may serve as a rest for other pieces of luggage, such as the pieces IDI and I02,.andiithe:whole assembly may be wheeled to a place. of destination where the dolly may be again collapsed.

thescopeoftheia 1; A' collapsible. luggage. dolly comprising a substantially plane-frame including two. parallel longitudinal members and. at least. one. transverse member; a handle structure, a. pair. of wheels, a wheels-supporting structure, and. a back structure, said structures being connected to but movable. in relation to; said frame? so as. to. besubstantially in the plane of said. framewhen said dolly, is collapsed, said wheels-supporting structure including for. each. wheel a fork-having a. shankv in. telescopi'cal engagement with one of saidlongitudinal members, two sleeves, one on eachbof said. shanks, a transverse element connectedto said sleeves, and said back. structure being rotatably mounted on said transverse-elm mentsoasto be at: app oximately right angles to said. plane when said-dolly is erected.

2. A collapsible luggagedolly comprising a substantially plane f'rameincluding; two parallel long-itudinal members and atleast one trans. verse member, a handle structure, a pair 015 wheels, .a wheels-supporting. structure, and aback structure, said-structures. being: connected to, but movable in; relationto saidframe, so as to be substantially; in the plane of said frame-when said dolly is collapsed, and said wheels-supporting structure and said handle structure constituting extensions. oi the frame ends, respectively. substantially. inits plane, said back. structure including two parallel tubular members endwise rotatable about an axis transverse with respect to: said. longitudinal members to a, position; at approximately right angles to said plane-when saiddolly is erected, and rods in telescopical-engagementwith said tubular members and constitutingan adjustable extension of the back structure in the, direction ofits; height.

. JULIE. R.

ppended claims.

FORMAN.-

ourrnn; STATES. 'rA'IrENTs;

ase 1 2? 

